My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/GM1221.aspx
All Greenwood Products
Battling for Bombers The U.S. Air Force Fights for its Modern Strategic Aircraft Programs
(Click to Enlarge)
Frank P. Donnini
ISBN: 0-313-31221-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31221-2
248 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 6/30/2000
List Price: $119.95 (UK Sterling Price: £82.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Although the United States Air Force was founded upon strategic bombardment theory and advocacy, the service has traditionally had tremendous difficulty in obtaining the adequate funding for bombers that it requires to fulfill its mandate. For more than 45 years, senior Air Force leaders, both military and civilian, have struggled to convince decision-makers in the White House and in Congress that modern manned bomber forces were needed, acceptable, and affordable. In this study, Donnini produces one of the most exhaustive analyses ever undertaken of Congressional subcommittee decision-making in the funding of defense procurement initiatives. He concludes that no program achieved measurable success of deployment with the original force structure requested; and only two, the B-1B and B-2A, received approval to acquire lesser numbers of aircraft for operational use.

Donnini found that an important part of each new bomber program appeared to be funding support through federal appropriations. If the right amounts were appropriated, the programs survived; if lesser amounts were given, chances for program failure were good; however, was funding support the deciding factor? This book used multiple case studies and the unorthodox methodology of applied content analysis of Congressional budget hearings to examine Air Force efforts to fund the most recent main bombers it sought (the B-70, B-1A, B-1B, and B-2A) and to determine measurements of success. The author's findings have implications concerning the way the United States handles procurement initiatives for major new weapon systems considered fundamental necessities for national defense.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    Abbreviations
    Introduction to the Bomber Battles
    Background and Foundation for Modern Strategic Aircraft Programs
    The B-70 Valkyrie Program (1954-1967)
    The B-1A (No Codename) Program (1961-1977)
    The B-1B Lancer Program (1977-1988)
    The B-2A Spirit Program (1975-1999)
    Discussion, Commonalities, Outcomes, and Implications
    Appendixes
    Bibliography
    Index
About the Author: FRANK P. DONNINI is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, whose career was spent mostly as an intelligence officer./e He had numerous assignments throughout the United States and overseas, including being an exchange officer with the Royal Australian Air Force, an Air Force Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a fellow at Air University's Airpower Research Institute. Since the military, he has been a Senior Analyst with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).
LCC Class: 358
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2009 ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-968-1911